General Question

julia999's avatar

Why is data lost when analog data is converted to binary (i.e. is digitalised)?

Asked by julia999 (343points) November 10th, 2009

When analog is converted to digital data, some data can be lost. What sort of data is it, and why is it lost? Is it because analog accounts for different sorts of information?

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2 Answers

ratboy's avatar

Analog data is continuous while digital data is discrete. An analog signal can assume all of the infinite number of values in an interval; when it is digitized, only finitely many values are available, so each must must represent infinitely many nearby values. What is lost is the knowledge of which of infinitely many values it represents.

julia999's avatar

Great answer, thank you ratboy!

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